World's youngest nation sits on brink of humanitarian disaster

Posted
July 15, 2014 20:28:00

South Sudan could see as many as 50,000 children starve to death unless aid is delivered as the country's internal conflict, which has already displaced more than a million people, looks set to continue.

SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Tens of thousands of children in the world's newest nation are on the brink of starvation.

The war in Southern Sudan has forced farmers from their land, closed supply routes and displaced almost one million people. The United Nations is now warning that, without urgent help, as many as 50,000 children may die.

Africa correspondent Martin Cuddihy and producer Dingani Masuku travelled to rebel-held South Sudan for this report.

MARTIN CUDDIHY, REPORTER: Just before dark, children play in the Akobo River.

It may look idyllic but this is a country at war with itself and the biggest losers are children.

PETER WALSH, SAVE THE CHILDREN: This brutal conflict has caused four million people to be food-insecure and 2.5 million of those, unfortunately, are children.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: These people have been forced from their homes by fighting in neighbouring counties. They arrive in the heat of the midday sun and wait for rations.

This man walked for a month to get here.

DAVID YANG, DISPLACED SOUTH SUDANESE CITIZEN: All our houses were demolished by heavy guns, shooting. We don't know what is the cause of this.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: So there's nothing left?

DAVID YANG: Nothing has been left.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Civil war in South Sudan flared up in December. It began as a row between rival politicians but has descended into a tribal conflict between the two main ethnic groups.

Thousands of people have been killed.

KOANG RAMBANG, COUNTY COMMISSIONER: We are also appealing for a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis. Our people have suffered so much for the last more than 21 years.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Akobo is a rebel-held part of South Sudan. County commissioner Koang Rambang is well protected by bodyguards: that's because he's fiercely anti-government.

KOANG RAMBANG: The government have cut off education services. The government have cut off health services, water services. All basic services are no longer here.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: There are no seeds for planting crops. The small amount of food that makes it here comes from Ethiopia.

PETER WALSH: A prediction that UNICEF have just published is that if we don't act now and get the funding that's required, 50,000 children will die by the end of this year due to malnutrition.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: The run-down hospital in Akobo is where the worst affected are. They are cared for by staff from the International Medical Corps.

THOMAS NDAMBU, IMC NUTRITIONIST: We're only treating for severe wasting. We know to count their ribs. You can see their ribs. This is an indication of severe wasting or marasmus.

Seven year old Res Reith was close to starving to death.

RES' MOTHER (translation): My child does not have any food to eat because there is no good food for him. I am the only one who normally eats. I collect and eat grass in the nearby bushes.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: About 85 per cent of the children who arrive at the clinic survive but many of them will return when once again their families run out of food.

Is it frustrating when you see the same children come back?

THOMAS NDAMBU: Very frustrating. In the back of my mind I always have this feeling that they may be back again because we treat them, they're going back to communities and they have no food.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Every week the charity Save the Children delivers emergency rations to some of the worst affected areas. They use the local waterways, past villages, pastoral settlements and wetlands along the border with Ethiopia.

So we're heading further downstream on the Akobo River, where it's probably going to take us about an hour to get to the town of Kya. And that's where there are a number of children that are already malnourished. And what we're going to do is deliver some much needed food to that village.

When we arrive, local women are already waiting with their children for the aid.

To determine who gets what, the children are examined. A bicep measurement is a quick way to tell if a child is getting enough to eat. In Kya, a staggering one in three children are malnourished.

JUAN LAKU, MOTHER (translation): This is the second time I've come here for my child to receive a supplement.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: This girl is just seven kilograms and she should be 50 per cent heavier.

KYA MOTHER (translation): I don't have a husband. I'm staying alone. I often think how there's no food for us.

BUAY RAMBANG, STC NUTRITIONIST: We are giving high-energetic food and also we are giving worming medicine. We're also giving vitamin A for children, for them to cover the wound treatment of severe cases.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: The last two crops in this region have been killed by flooding. This year, the rains haven't come.

PETER WALSH: We've got children that have dropped out of school and they're foraging amongst the leaves, supplementing grass and leaves with any berries they can find just to get through the 24-hour period.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: The UN estimates $1.8 billion in aid is needed to keep everyone alive. So far just a third of that has been pledged.

PETER WALSH: For $58 Australian, we can provide three months of supplementary feeding, highly nutritious, high-calorie paste which will bring a child that's, you know, on the verge of death to essentially be in a position where they can play and enjoy the life that they should be enjoying, rather than struggling due to hunger.

SARAH FERGUSON: Martin Cuddihy with that report.

And if you'd like to contribute to the South Sudan appeal, the number is 1800 76 00 11.